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Sunday, 9 December 2012

It is easy to see the cracks in George Osborne’s autumn
statement. It was a ‘smokescreen budget’, designed to fool people that the well
off are going to be contributing their fair share, yet in reality they will be
contributing very little compared to working class families, pensioners and
benefit claimants who will still pay the real price for the failures of
capitalism.

In addition to this, where is the necessary investment from
Osborne to kickstart our economy and help drive us out of recession? Simple it’s
not there. This country could be at the forefront of a green economic
revolution with more than 1 million jobs created in the green sector alone.
Personally I would like to see encouragement of public and co-operatively owned
businesses to lead this sector with the necessary investment and support coming
from the government. In addition to this I would like to see greater support
for small businesses and sole traders in general – ordinary people who are
trying to make a living in this country instead of gambling on the stock market
or driving wages to the bottom through hiring lower waged labour. I do
differentiate between good and unscrupulous employers in small businesses. Such
companies who are unscrupulous and keep wages down by exploiting their
workforce I feel deserve no support, as their loyalty is not to the country or
their workforce, but to their bank balance instead.

Moving on to Osborne’s attack on benefit claimants, which I
feel represents another giant leap towards Victorian conditions in this country.
This is all part of the neo-liberal plan to divide and destroy any solidarity
within working class communities.Their
aim is to stigmatise those on benefits and making conditions even harsher for
them. We cannot let Osborne and the capitalist class to destroy our communities
and we need to build greater solidarity within the working class in order to
defend ourselves against the purges of the government and its allies in the
mainstream media.

It is a fact, when people are desperate they will break the
law in order to survive or to support their families. It is a matter of
survival and I would challenge even the most law abiding citizen to challenge
this. Through this purge on benefits and the working class more and more people
are going to be forced into petty crime in order to survive. No doubt this will
be picked up upon by the ‘hang em and flog em’ brigade readers of the Mail and
the Express and other right wing papers who will claim crime is getting out of
control and call for stiffer penalties. This is why we need to defend working class
people and communities and those on benefits and point the blame at those who
are creating the economic and social conditions for crime. How can we totally
condemn those committing anti-social behaviour when all they can see before
them is a no hope society and a dog eat dog world.

Our message has to be to invest in both our economy and the people
and to oppose the capitalist divide and rule and social cleansing policies
wherever they are implemented. We have to expose the greed, self interest and
dog eat dog nature of the capitalist system not only to people in our
communities, but to those active in the wider labour movement. As those to
blame do not solely rest within the Tory party and their Lib-Dem buddies in the
coalition, but with the Labour leadership and careerists within the Labour Party,
Trade Unionists who have become so accustomed to their luxury lifestyles they
have detached themselves from the people they are supposed to represent, and
councillors who have been elected on an anti-cuts manifesto yet when in office
simply carry out the dirty work of the government. In our fight to overthrow
this rotten government and the capitalist system such people are nothing more
than the enemy within our own camp.

Monday, 22 October 2012

The RMT has confirmed two strike dates and further
action short of a strike following a massive mandate from members in a
ballot of groups of staff on First Devon and Cornwall buses in a dispute
over pay.

Relevant members are not to book on for any
duty commencing between 00:01 and 23:59 hours on Friday 26th October
2012, and again between 00:01 and 23:59 hours on Friday 9th November
2012. Relevant members are not to work any unscheduled overtime or rest
days between 00:01 hours on Sunday 11th November and 23:59 hours on
Saturday 17th November 2012.

The action follows the
rejection of this year's long overdue pay offer. The company proposal is
self-funding – meaning it would have no cost impact on the company and
ring-fences their profits.
It includes the loss of paid
walking time, the removal of time to do a visual "walk round" check when
taking a bus over mid shift and the dilution of the sick pay benefits.
This follows on from the removal of the final salary section of the
pension scheme, already implemented despite fierce union objections.
In this weeks ballot result RMT members voted by almost 85% for strike action and by over 90% for action short of a strike.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said: “This
weeks massive mandate for action by RMT members on First Devon and
Cornwall buses reflects their anger at the failure to come up with a
serious pay offer and the attempt to bind up what is on the table with a
whole load of strings to make it self-financing at the expense of the
workforce.
"The fact that we have been forced to ballot and
put this action on is solely down to the failure of the management side
to understand the anger of their workforce. The company must take this
situation seriously and get round the table with RMT to negotiate a
settlement and the sooner those talks commence the better.
“Bus
services and bus workers in the South West are under a series of
attacks as the companies attempt to ramp up and protect profits at the
expense of the staff and that situation cannot continue. "

South
West England Cornwall Green Left will be sending messages of
solidarity to striking workers and where possible joining picket lines
to distribute copies of The Eco-Socialist.

Devon Green Left member Lynton North, spreads the eco-socialist message

Saturday October 20th saw members of the Green
Left in Devon carrying placards, boarding coaches and to London for the TUC’s ‘A
Future that Works’ demonstration.

The march, estimated at 150,000 strong, brought the centre
of the capital to a standstill and was a massive show of strength and
solidarity in opposition to the ConDems assault on the ordinary people. Hundreds of Green Party placards were clearly
noticeable amongst the marchers, with the first issue of ‘The Eco-Socialist’
newspaper being distributed and well received.

The battle against austerity measures and the evils of capitalism
needs to be at the heart of Green politics and coupled with the fight to bring
about an egalitarian, eco-socialist society. South West England & Cornwall
Green left recognise this will not come about from the niceties of politics or
holding tea parties, but only through struggle and positioning ourselves at the
heart of that struggle. In this we recognise action and fighting cutbacks is
perhaps more important than simply targeting electoral success and being just
another political machine.

Saturday, 6 October 2012

GREEN LEFT SUPPORTERS JOIN LOBBY OF TORBAY COUNCIL

BEFORE DISCUSSION OF LIVING WAGE MOTION

Pictured are Green Party activists, including Green Left supporters, joining Labour and Independent councillors and trade unionists in support of the TUC Living Wage Campaign. The issue has now been referred to the policy development group for further consideration. At the same meeting of 27 September, surprisingly Torbay's Tory executive Mayor expressed his opposition to regional pay !!

The campaign goes on. Now the focus turns to the October 20 and the TUC's 'A Future That Works' London March and Rally. Show your opposition to the ConDems - be there !

Saturday, 22 September 2012

Ecosocialism is not a new theory or brand of socialism — it is
socialism with Marx’s important insights on ecology restored, socialism
committed to the fight against ecological destruction.These articles and books provide an introduction to that
perspective, focusing on works that are brief, clear, and readily
available.The authors don’t agree on everything. They don’t even agree on
whether “ecosocialism” is an appropriate term. You may call this
perspective ecosocialism or ecological Marxism or socialist
environmentalism, or just socialism: it’s the ideas, not the labels,
that count.

Friday, 21 September 2012

There is an old socialist fable, about a man who has gone into
work and noticed the bins had not been emptied and the floor had not been
swept. The story continued with the bins not being emptied and the floors not
swept the following day. On the third day, once again the bins were overflowing,
and by now the floor really needed sweeping. So the man decided to go into the office
and ask to see the manager and find out what was happening.

“Oh”, the manager’s secretary replied to the man’s question,
“I’m afraid the manager has been away on a cruise for the last two weeks and is
not due back for another fortnight. But I did mean to pass the message on that
Janice the cleaner has sprained her ankle, and you will have to empty your own
bins for a few days”.

The moral of this story is that when the boss is away work
continues as normal and nobody notices the difference. However when the cleaner
is away, the effect is immediately recognised.

But there is perhaps another moral which is extremely relevant
to the weeks ahead and it is something we all need to reflect upon. That moral
is the fate of this government is really in our hands, as we are ‘the cleaners’
and when our labour is not there, it certainly will be noticed.

This is why October 20th is so important. We need
this to act as a catalyst for co-ordinated strike action as part of the process
to topple this right wing ConDem government. No doubt such action will prove
unpopular in the right wing gutter press and other elements within the media
which prop up the establishment. But nevertheless we have to seize this
opportunity and demand union leaders take such action, and ensure there is
solidarity amongst the workers.

There is no doubt economic emotional blackmail will form
part of the anti-strike campaign. We will be told strike action will drag the
country deeper into recession; it will put more jobs at risk and bring greater
hardship upon us. To answer this let’s look at the outcome of not striking?
More job losses, more pay cuts or freezes, cutbacks in benefits, financial
attacks on the most vulnerable in society, deterioration of the NHS. In other
words things which will affect ordinary working people.....the millions and certainly
not the millionaires. As for the recession getting worse if we strike, I have
not seen the same argument being used by the right wing gutter press when
company directors take their businesses overseas to exploit cheaper labour
markets. In addition to this, how many jobs could be created through government
investment in the ‘million green jobs’ initiative, to help drive this country out
of recession? ‘They’ are responsible for the recession and not ‘us’ and to coin
a phrase we are definitely not ‘all in this together’.

If we fight this government through strike action, civil
disobedience and if necessary other forms of non-violent direct action we have
a chance of preserving and protecting jobs and the services ordinary folk rely upon.

What is needed is to strike a massive blow towards those at
the top, one which will be so powerful it will bring this rotten system to an
end. Here I may differ from many of those in the Trade Union movement who
simply wish to replace one capitalist regime with another in the form of Ed
Miliband’s Labour Party. There are still some good people in the Labour Party,
but its leadership would simply deliver a form of anesthetised austerity with
cutbacks which again will hit ordinary people, whilst the millionaires escape
paying their fair share.

If we can bring this right wing coalition tumbling down,
this will simply be the first skirmish in what we need to ensure is an ongoing
campaign for social, economic and environmental justice. The red flag of peace,
equality, fairness and socialism is no longer enough if we do not also grasp
the green nettle of ecology and forge an ecosocialist future for our country, one
which will act as a beacon to others throughout the world

However we have to begin this process somewhere, and October
20 is an opportunity for us to begin this process. If we are indeed the ‘cleaners’
in the socialist fable, then we need to take this opportunity to sweep this
rotten pile of capitalist rubbish from government.

Sunday, 16 September 2012

Green Left members at a meeting of Greens from throughout Devon pushed for the inclusion of the objective of securing the Living Wage demand in the published in the Green Party manifesto for the Devon County Council elections next May.

We are delighted to report enthusiastic support from party members. Green Left supporters will endeavour to ensure that this becomes a key pledge for the upcoming elections !